Gudrun Bühnemann
Scholar, Serpent, Yogin, and Devotee: The Many Faces of Patañjali in Indian Traditions
Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2025, pp. xii + 211 (= Brill’s Indological Library 64)
This study illuminates the many faces of Patañjali in Indian traditions. Often regarded as an incarnation of the cosmic serpent Adiśeșa or Anantanāga, Patañjali is celebrated, in both story and art, as a grammarian, scholar and practitioner of yoga, physician-alchemist, medical authority, teacher, ascetic, and devotee ofthe Dancing Śiva (Națarāja). The first three chapters examine the literary works attributed to Patañjali, explore legendary accounts and beliefs associated with this multifaceted figure, and survey temples and shrines dedicated to the sage. The following five chapters trace the development of Patañjali’s iconography from its earliest forms in Tamilnadu, South India, to contemporary examples.
Gudrun Bühnemann, Ph.D., University of Vienna, is a professor in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. She has published extensively on South Asian iconography and ritual.